Politics Sonic Reducer
K.C. Executive Ron Sims and City Council President Nick Licata both believe the taxing authority the state legislature is thinking of handing over to King County to revamp Key Arena should be available whether the Sonics stay or not. (The pending legislation only greenlights the taxing authority if the Sonics are part of the equation. In other words, it’s a corporate subsidy for the Sonics.)
Sims wrote an editorial in the Seattle Times this morning arguing that revamping Key Arena and Seattle Center should not be dependent on the Sonics’ presence.
And Licata is actually peddling an amendment to the Olympia legislation that would allow the tax dollar revenue to go to remodel Key Arena—with or without the Sonics. “The current [legislation] denies the city the option of trying to run the Key Arena profitably without the Sonics,” Licata says.
Meanwhile, Seattle Center released a giant study today hyping their positive economic impact on the region. The study says that Seattle Center generates $1.15 billion for the local economy. If one is to believe the Sonics’ recent claims that they generate $234 million (the Seattle Center didn’t break out in line items), that’s only 1/5 of the Center’s economic impact. (And part of the Sonics’ claims relied on those whopping player salaries, which certainly don’t all flow to this region.)
After a press conference today hyping the Center study, I sat down with Center Director Virginia Anderson and asked if she agreed with Sims and Licata that the pending tax revenues should come without the Sonics requirement, she said: “Absolutely. Yes.”
She then went onto lecture me about creating community before cutting herself off and banging her fist on the table (startling everyone else in the room), laughing: “I know that’s not what you care about. You’re just interested in the Sonics legislation. But you’re interviewing me, God damn it!” The startled bunch of Center employees and press flacks, who had turned their attention to us, started roaring with laughter.
Virginia Anderson says that it's all about "community"? And people started laughing. That's exactly correct.